Poll: Most Californians favor citizenship path for undocumented

March 25, 2013, 7:02AM

03/25/2013

LOS ANGELES -- California voters now see undocumented workers as a positive economic force in the state -- and they overwhelmingly favor allowing a path to citizenship for the millions of illegal immigrants in the country, according to a USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll.

Nineteen percent of poll respondents said those in the country illegally should be required to leave the United States. About two-thirds said illegal immigrants should be allowed to stay with eventual citizenship rights. Ten percent said they should be permitted to remain in this country to work but should not be allowed to apply for citizenship.

At a time when the push for immigration reform has gained momentum in Washington, more than two-thirds of California voters say the current immigration system isn't working and nearly three-quarters favor President Barack Obama's plan to change it, the poll found.

The poll, which interviewed 1,501 registered voters by telephone, has an overall margin of error of 2.9 percentage points, with a higher margin of error for subgroups.